Monarchy - What would happen?

Sounds to me like you're going to have people coming out of the woodwork claiming to be related to the royal family way back in their family tree - grandsons of royal bastards, etc. These claims may or may not be true: I think the political and military situation would decide who wins out.

Alternatively, the most powerful faction in the setting could just crown their own choice of king and invite everyone who disagrees to eat two feet of steel.

Setting - modern and law abiding or ancient and feudal?

What happened in England on the death of Queen Anne was that an obscure cousin from Germany became George I on the basis that he was the closest non-Catholic.

If your setting is more feudal then the noble with the largest army will either put himself forward or will put forward a puppet (maybe a minor) with some semi-plausible blood claim to the throne.

I agree with Parametric and waylander but would add that much of it depends on how your monarchy is structured.

Does the monarch rule alone and by absolute power or does he have a chamber of advisers? If he has advisers, then it may be that they would get together and either (a) decide which of them is going to step into the king's shoes or (b) decide on a third party to become king (which may involve inviting the monarch of a neighbouring country to come on over and do it for them).

Also, was your king a shagger? Is there any chance that he had illegitimate children outside his marriage that might not be publicly known about but which nonetheless exist? For example, Charles II had several illegitimate children and no heir of his own (in fact, one of his illegitimate children who decided to launch a move for the crown only to get smacked down for it).

MM

Assuming this kingdom doesn't exist in a vacuum, invasion from a nearby realm word work. Austria, Britain, and Russia tired it after the French executed Louis XVI. Of course they eventually ran up against Napoleon.
C

Horserider said:

Okay here's the hypothetical situation. The only members of the royal family are the king, the king's brother, the king's wife, and the king's son.

The king's five year old son has died of a mysterious illness.

His wife has also died.

Now the king's been assassinated by his own brother.

Then the king's brother is also assassinated.

There are no more heirs to the throne. I need to find some way to put someone on the throne that has no relation to the original king. How would that work out? (I'm probably clueless, I know)

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In reality, for most monarchies, there is a long line of potential successors to the throne.

Some countries had constitutions in which the nobility (or even assembly of the entire people) would elect a new king in an emergency like this. I believe that this happened in Russia when the Rurik dynasty died off, leading to the coronation of the first Romanovs.

First off, I think a Regent would step in to keep order in the kingdom, until the closest living heir could be found. Then the closest living male or female relative would be declared as the new monarch. The closest living relative doesn't necessarily have to be related, in your case. They could be an imposter who only claims to be related. An unknown, illegitimate child, or long-lost relative.